Lead Gen & Customer Conversions - Filling the Funnel and Getting Revenue

Lead Generation &
Customer Conversions:
Filling The Funnel and Getting Revenue

Joe Gelata
February 29, 2012

Agenda
• Intro & Definitions
• Funnel Theory
• Filling the Funnel
• Converting the Funnel
• Improving the Funnel
• Rules of the Road

Introduction
• Who am I?
– Sales, Marketing, and Operations
– Late-stage Start-ups to Enterprise and Agency
– Technology, Finance, Legal, Retail…
– Local to Global
– Focus on process management and technology to
drive revenue
• CRM, Marketing Automation, BI, RPM

Definitions
• Revenue Engine: systems and processes that
drive revenue from suspect to deal close
• Funnel: a group of measurable stages within a
process, each further qualifying a prospect
• Demand Gen: creating demand for your offering
• Lead Gen: process of capturing leads
• Lead Management: process of converting a lead
to a sale
• KPI: Key Performance Indicator
• RPM: Revenue Performance Management

Funnel Theory

The Old & The New

Funnel Theory
• Metaphor to illustrate the top-down stages of
the revenue process
• Top is high volume but lightly qualified
• Bottom is low volume but highly qualified
• Goal is to push max volume to the bottom

Sales
• 1:1 communication
• Qualified Prospect
• Many Sales Models
• CRM Technology

Lead Generation
• 1:N communication
• Inbound & Outbound
• Lead acquisition and
initial qualification
• Marketing Automation

Demand Generation
• N:N communication
• Inbound
• Social interaction
• Initial touch point
• Social CRM

Funnel Theory
• Is the funnel dead?
– Probably (time for a new logo!)
– BUT the basic theory still applies
– It can help simplify your processes

The New Funnel
• The revenue lifecycle is no longer linear
• Prospects can enter/exit at any point and
travel backwards
• The stages are shifting

Stage Interaction
• Marketing does more
qualification
• Social influence grows
• Social > Lead Gen
• Lead Gen > Sales

Funnel Tips
• Match stages to customers buying habits
• Make sure you can track the stages
• Map activity at each stage to its goal
• Document your stages and processes

Filling the Funnel

More In, More Out

Filling the Funnel
• Goal:
– Drive prospects into the funnel
• Result:
– More leads in = more revenue out

Social Acquisition
• Find and join the
conversation
– Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter, Blogs, Forms,
Communities
• Use relevant content to
get attention
• Cheap but time
consuming
• Content creation
– Rule of 7

Lead Generation
• Also content driven
• Map content to funnel
stage
• Trade for contact info
– “Contact Knowledgebase”
• Campaign Offers:
– Webinars
– Whitepapers
– Downloads & Trials
– Seminars, Conferences, an
d Tradeshows
– etc.

Lead Generation
• Inbound and Outbound
Channels
– SEO
– PPC
– Advertising
– Email
– Direct Mail
– Telemarketing
– Partnerships

Sales
• Cold/Warm Calling
• Referrals
• Existing Customers

Converting the Funnel

Keeping the Pipeline Flowing

Converting the Funnel
• Goal:
– Push prospects through the funnel
• Result:
– More conversions = more revenue

Demand Conversion
• Create enough interest
to drive prospects to
Lead Gen stage
– Solid messaging
– Interesting content
• Provide clear and easy
path
– Links to website, high
value content, contact
info

Lead Conversion
• Collect contact info
• Qualify leads
– Type of content
consumed
– Lead Scoring
• Educate prospects
• Nurture them until sales
ready

Sales Conversion
• Remove purchasing
obstacles
• Guide prospect through
purchase decision
• Final conversion to
revenue

Improving the Funnel

RPM 101

Importance of Optimization

Source: Sirius Decisions, courtesy of Eloqua

RPM
• A discipline that optimizes the revenue engine
• Complex process but basic concept is valid
anywhere
• Eloqua: “A systematic approach to identifying
the drivers and impediments to
revenue, rigorously measuring them, and then
pulling the economic levers that will optimize
top line growth”

RPM Implementation
• Focus on KPIs
– Campaign Attribution
(ROI)
– Time in Stage (Velocity)
– Funnel Leakage
– Size of Funnel (Reach)
– Rejection Reasons
– Weighted Pipeline (Value)
– Total Revenue Conversion

RPM Results

Revenue Growth
2007 to 2010
•S&P 500: 15%
•Eloqua Customers: 34%
•RPM Users: 58%

Rules of the Road

Beware of Potholes

Rules of the Road
• Keep it simple / Don’t boil the ocean
• Process first, then technology
• Beware of best practices
• Experiment and monitor
• Focus on KPI’s, not metrics

Summary
• Funnel Theory
• Filling the Funnel
• Converting the Funnel
• Improving the Funnel

Contact

Joe Gelata
joe@revenue-engineer.com
@RevenueEngineer
www.revenue-engineer.com

Lead Gen & Customer Conversions - Filling the Funnel and Getting Revenue

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